Workers for Artemis and America's Cup use a crane to lift the damaged Regata from the San Francisco Bay off the coast of Treasure Island in California on May 10. / JOSH EDELSON AFP/Getty Images

by Douglas Robson, USA TODAY Sports

by Douglas Robson, USA TODAY Sports

SAN FRANCISCO â?? A committee investigating the death of an America's Cup sailor earlier this month released a sweeping set of additional safety recommendations Wednesday, including lowering the race wind limits by a significant margin.

The new measures call for reducing wind limits in September's final round of racing from 33 knots (38 mph) to 23 knots (26 mph).

Many of the 37 recommendations from the committee are aimed at boosting the personal safety of the sailors. Among the suggestions: improved body armor, underwater breathing devices and crew location beacons.

The review committee, headed by regatta director Iain Murray, also recommended "structural" changes to the high-speed, high-risk AC72 class of yachts slated for the 34th America's Cup and the equipment used to support them.

"I think the sailing community is going to be impressed by the scope, breadth and thoughtfulness of these recommendations and how swiftly the review committee has operated," Ehman told USA Today Sports by phone Wednesday.

On May 9, Andrew "Bart" Simpson died in a training accident when the Swedish-owned Artemis Racing boat capsized and broke into pieces.

Simpson, an Olympic gold medalist in sailing from Britain, is thought to have drowned when he was trapped under some of the wreckage.

The San Francisco Police Department is overseeing the investigation into Simpson's death but has yet to issue a report.

The new recommendations are not binding until the Coast Guard gives its stamp of approval. Only it has the authority to issue a marine permit for the series of races to take place this summer on San Francisco Bay.

Organizers said they had met with the quartet of teams Wednesday in San Francisco.

"All four competing America's Cup teams have cooperated in an open, helpful and constructive way, and the Review Committee noted there is a clear desire on the part of the teams to ensure the safety of the America's Cup as much as possible," said Murray in a statement.

The review committee will form additional task forces with experts to look into better protective gear for sailors, the statement added.

Ehman said they do not apply to training, which is expected to resume more broadly this week.

The America's Cup review committee had asked teams to hold off training until today.

The Italian team, Luna Rossa, ignored the recommendation and resumed sailing several days ago. The head of the team, Prada mogul Patrizio Bertelli, called for significantly lower wind limits in a press conference in San Francisco on Friday.

Team New Zealand and Team Oracle are expected back on the bay as soon as tomorrow if unusually windy conditions die down.

Emirates Team New Zealand managing director Grant Dalton said the team supports the review committee's recommendations in principle. "They are prudent and reasonable," he said.

"The committee has done some remarkable work in only six days. The details still have to be worked on but we see nothing that will adversely affect the event."

Ehman noted that the recommendations could have "competitive influences" on the teams as they prepare for the 162-year-old competition. Those will have to be smoothed out.

"This is version 1.0," he said of the review committee's work. "This laundry list of recommendations will continue to be expanded and refined."

He said the teams were learning about the high-tech AC72s each time they sailed and that some adjustments had already been in the works following the capsizing of Team Oracle's boat during a windy training run last October.